After 11 years of playing the lottery together, five friends from the United States (US) finally hit the jackpot.
Their group, who calls themselves “Milly’s Lottery Pool”, won US$9.9 million (S$12.8 million) in the 16 Aug Hoosier Lotto draw.
Source: Hoosier Lottery
According to the Hoosier Lottery, they discovered the win on 18 Aug but waited until one member returned from a cruise before claiming their prize.
On 16 Aug, Milly bought the winning Hoosier Lotto ticket at Jack’s Place, a petrol station in Columbus, Indiana.
Source: Google Maps
For the past 11 years, she and her friends have entered every Hoosier Lotto draw, as well as other Hoosier Lottery games.
The five first met while working at a factory and stayed in touch, using the lottery as a way to “have some fun and excitement together”.
Milly, who runs a YouTube channel called Oldladyscratcher, usually posts photos of the tickets in the group’s Messenger chat.
This time, however, she forgot until 18 Aug.
As she uploaded the photo, she scanned the ticket on the Hoosier Lottery app and saw the amount was too large to be paid out at a retailer.
She quickly checked the winning numbers — 1, 21, 26, 31, 33, 34 — and realised they had won.
“OMG! Everyone, we hit it. We won!” she wrote to the group.
Each of Milly’s four friends was going about their day when the life-changing news came in.
Source: Hoosier Lottery
Tony was charging his phone on the kitchen counter when it nearly jumped off from all the incoming alerts.
“I was sitting down to dinner when I read the message that we won. At that point, I couldn’t eat dinner,” he said.
Kendra was leaving work when she noticed a missed Messenger call.
At first, she thought it was a butt dial, but then she saw the message that they had won. “This is not real,” she remembered thinking.
Meanwhile, Jenny had just been reading a Facebook post about a jackpot ticket sold in her area.
She wished it were hers — and moments later learned it actually was. She kept the news to herself for nearly a week so she could surprise her adult children in person.
Finally, Roxanne and her family had just parked at the airport on their way to an Alaskan cruise when her son read a news story aloud about the winning ticket.
Minutes later, Milly’s message came through. Roxanne briefly considered cancelling her trip but went ahead, while the group patiently waited for her return before claiming the prize in Indianapolis.
The five chose the cash option of US$4,682,171 (S$6 million), split evenly among them.
Each already has plans, from buying a new car or house to setting aside savings. But more than anything, they agreed the win has “taken weight off their shoulders”.
And the friends weren’t the only winners.
Jack’s Place, the petrol station where the ticket was purchased, will receive nearly US$100,000 (S$129,000) from the Hoosier Lottery for selling the jackpot-winning ticket.
Also read: Taiwan man’s S$35 lottery ticket wins S$76.9 million with grand prize and 7 2nd prizes
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Featured image adapted from Hoosier Lottery.